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Research Assistant

Employer
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Location
London (Greater)
Salary
£37,804 per annum, including London Weighting Allowance
Closing date
1 Feb 2022

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Job Details

Job description
This is an exciting opportunity to work on regenerative medicine within King’s BHF Centre of Excellence. Microvascular dysfunction has recently emerged as a key contributor to cardiovascular diseases and a novel regulator of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. The systemic proinflammatory state triggered by many comorbidities was shown to correlate with microvascular inflammation, the production of profibrotic cytokines, and extracellular matrix remodelling.  
This project will focus on establishing a human organoid model that can faithfully recapitulate the vessel wall/ immune cell interactions in humans. This system will be an innovative tool that will offer unique insights into the mechanisms and triggers of vascular dysfunction.
 
Our aim is to develop a novel pipeline that integrates organoid technologies, genome engineering workflows and precision medicine approach through the use of patient derived iPS cells. These vascular/ immune cell organoids will be used for mechanistic studies to identify novel therapeutic targets that could limit or reverse microvascular inflammation.
This is an interdisciplinary project with strong translational potential that will employ a variety of cutting edge cellular and molecular techniques such as regenerative medicine/iPS cells, organoids and gene editing systems coupled with in-depth mechanistic assays.
 
This post will be offered on a fixed-term contract for 12 months 
This is a full-time post - 100% full time equivalent

Key responsibilities
•               Perform cell/tissue culture experiments, including iPSC culture and organoid generation.  
•               Perform immunofluorescence/immunochemistry experiments on fixed tissue sections.  
•               Perform high-resolution imaging on confocal microscopes.  
•               Present data at regular group meetings.  
•               Support the training of undergraduate and postgraduate project students.  
•               Interact scientifically with other members of the group and departmental colleagues. 
•               Facilitate collaboration and networking which engages and supports the activities of the project 
•               Contribute to the preparation of manuscripts for journal publication.  
•               Plan own day-to-day research activity within the framework of the agreed research schedule 
•               Support the technical aspects of the smooth running of the lab Including stock maintenance, reagent preparation.  
•               Undertake any other reasonable duties that may be relevant to the role outline. 
 
The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  
 
Skills, knowledge, and experience 
 
Essential criteria  

 
1.            PhD in a Biological Sciences or related discipline.  
2.            Tissue/cell culture experience. 
3.            Immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy experience. 
4.            Good written presentation skills, communication skills (written & verbal), and good IT skills 
5.            Broad molecular biology research experience (e.g. cloning, RT-PCR) 
6.            Broad cell biology experience, e.g. immunoblotting, primary cell culture 
7.            Successful completion of research projects (published papers in high Impact Factor journals) 
8.            Motivated and hard-working.   
9.            Ability to learn new techniques/skills on the job.   
10.        Ability to integrate with colleagues and work as part of a team.   
11.        Able to carry out know/learnt techniques unsupervised, and flexible/able to change in current professional context 
12.        Able to plan and prioritise workload and keep clear and well-organised laboratory notes and records. 
13.        Willing to undertake share of group tasks. 
 
Desirable criteria

 
1.        Background in cardiovascular biology. 
2.        Experience with flow cytometry.  
3.        Knowledge of molecular genetics.  
4.        Experience of working with iPS-derived cardiomyocytes or engineered heart muscle. 
5.        Experience of working with in-vivo models of disease or gene-modification. 

Company

King's College London is one of the top 20 universities in the world and among the oldest in England. King's has more than 27,600 students (of whom nearly 10,500 are graduate students) from some 150 countries worldwide, and some 6,800 staff.

King's has an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) King’s was ranked 6th nationally in the ‘power’ ranking, which takes into account both the quality and quantity of research activity, and 7th for quality according to Times Higher Education rankings. Eighty-four per cent of research at King’s was deemed ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ (3* and 4*). The university is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of more than £684 million.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar.

King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas', King's College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts are part of King's Health Partners. King's Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering global collaboration between one of the world's leading research-led universities and three of London's most successful NHS Foundation Trusts, including leading teaching hospitals and comprehensive mental health services. For more information, visit: www.kingshealthpartners.org.

King’s £600 million campaign, World questions|KING’s answers, has delivered huge global impact in areas where King’s has particular expertise. Philanthropic support has funded new research to save young lives at Evelina London Children’s Hospital; established the King’s Dickson Poon School of Law as a worldwide leader in transnational law; built a new Cancer Centre at Guy’s Hospital; allowed unique collaboration between leading neuroscientists to fast-track new treatments for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, motor neurone disease, depression and schizophrenia at the new Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute; created the Cicely Saunders Institute: the first academic institution in the world dedicated to palliative care, and supported the King’s Sierra Leone Partnership in the Ebola crisis. Donations provide over 300 of the most promising students with scholarships and bursaries each year. More information about the campaign is available at www.kcl.ac.uk/kingsanswers.

Company info
Mini-site
KINGS COLLEGE LONDON
Telephone
+(44)02078365454
Location
STRAND
LONDON
WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

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